English Standard Version

New International Version

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit.

And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,
“The enda has come upon my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them.

2

“What do you see, Amos?” he asked.
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.
Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

3

The songs of the templeb shall become wailingsc in that day,”
declares the Lord God.
“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
“Silence!”

3

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.a Many, many bodies — flung everywhere! Silence!”

4

Hear this, you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor of the land to an end,

4

Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor of the land,

5

saying, “When will the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make the ephah small and the shekeld great
and deal deceitfully with false balances,

5

saying,
“When will the New Moon be over
that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
that we may market wheat?” —
skimping on the measure,
boosting the price
and cheating with dishonest scales,

6

that we may buy the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

6

buying the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat.

7

The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
“Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

7

The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.

8

Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who dwells in it,
and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”

8

“Will not the land tremble for this,
and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
it will be stirred up and then sink
like the river of Egypt.

9

“And on that day,” declares the Lord God,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.

9

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.

10

I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentation;
I will bring sackcloth on every waist
and baldness on every head;
I will make it like the mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.

10

I will turn your religious festivals into mourning
and all your singing into weeping.
I will make all of you wear sackcloth
and shave your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.

11

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when I will send a famine on the land —
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.

11

“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land —
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

12

They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.

12

People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.

13

“In that day the lovely virgins and the young men
shall faint for thirst.

13

“In that day
“the lovely young women and strong young men
will faint because of thirst.

14

Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria,
and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’
and, ‘As the Way of Beersheba lives,’
they shall fall, and never rise again.”

14

Those who swear by the sin of Samaria —
who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’
or, ‘As surely as the godb of Beersheba lives’ —
they will fall, never to rise again.”

Parallel

English Standard Version

New International Version

Amos 8

Amos 8